COGE Charter Revision Panel Seeks to Cut Red Tape

The Mamdani administration’s independent charter review panel, dubbed the Commission on Government Efficiency, plans to propose ballot measures aimed at overhauling how the city handles permitting and procurement processes.

COGE will propose that voters decide whether the city should establish a central hub to obtain permits for construction projects, along with measures to streamline how the city awards contracts, repurposes city-owned lots and leases office space.

Past charter amendments have seismically shifted what gets built where in New York City, including last year’s vote for an Expedited Land Use Review Procedure and a housing measure that fast-tracked affordable housing zoning changes.

This year’s proposed ballot measures could impact the pace of construction across the city, which would aid Mamdani’s housing plan goal to build 200,000 new affordable units and preserve 200,000 more over the next decade.

Cutting red tape

One of the Mamdani administration’s main focuses, in addition to freezing the rent for stabilized tenants, has been to cut red tape by reducing bottlenecks in the city’s permitting and procurement processes.

Under the permitting ballot proposal, the Department of Buildings commissioner would have more latitude to delegate authority for issuing certificates of occupancy, currently the purview of just five borough commissioners, a deputy commissioner and their direct city employees. The proposed charter revision would also set up a central hub that would allow users to apply and check the status of 40 construction permits across 18 agencies for projects that range from home renovation to building affordable housing.

The proposed permitting amendment would also centralize the waterfront permitting process under the DOB, a move intended to streamline compliance for both existing and future structures. The Department of Small Business Services currently handles permits for construction on all City-owned waterfront property and private property used for maritime purposes, while DOB only issues permits for non-maritime uses of private waterfront property.

Speeding up procurement of goods and services from outside vendors or contractors is the goal of another proposed charter revision, which COGE claims will cut up to 30 days from the process (the panel says the process currently takes “hundreds of hours of staff time” to set up social services contracts). The panel highlighted “overwhelming testimony” on chronic delays for setting up new contracts and receiving payment, but noted that some of those challenges can’t be entirely solved with a charter revision.

The procurement ballot measure proposes reducing burdens on small businesses and nonprofits by simplifying a pre-contracting questionnaire for securing city contracts, which currently requires, for example, a hot dog vendor and a large commercial bank to answer the same questions. COGE will propose that the procurement policy board be able to adopt rules that vary required information based on categories like the contract’s total dollar amount or a vendor’s small business status. The mayor would also be able to delegate certain approvals to the agency seeking the contract, along with changes to the public comment process.

Another ballot measure would allow the city to more easily repurpose small lots of public land and acquire office space. This proposal, which also aims to speed up street safety projects like bike lanes, would let the city sell small properties using the Expedited Land Use Review Procedure. Landmark development rights on city-owned sites would also be eligible for ELURP under the proposal.

The measure would also remove a public hearing and City Council final review requirement, making it quicker for the city to lease office space for municipal workers. COGE aims to shave two months off the process by instead requiring the Department of Citywide Administrative Services to notify the relevant Council member, community board and borough president of any intent to acquire office space in their district, then notify the Comptroller once the lease is signed.

The mayor’s panel

The COGE panel released the draft amendments for public comment Monday, with plans to release final language Wednesday, followed by a vote Thursday on whether to include them on the November ballot.

The 16-member charter revision panel helmed by former Obama and de Blasio advisor Patrick Gaspard also includes former Partnership for New York CEO Kathy Wydle, along with other influential city government alumni like former borough president Ruth Messinger and ex-Council member Carlina Rivera, who now runs the New York State Association for Affordable Housing.

The independent panel appointed by Mamdani isn’t the only group vying to get measures on the ballot. Members of a separate charter revision commission set up by ex-Mayor Eric Adams on his last day in office sued the mayor, governor, city clerk and Board of Elections last month to get the issue of open primaries on the ballot.

Mamdani formally disbanded the “zombie” charter commission under a new provision passed by lawmakers in the state budget, which the suit argues deprived its members of the right to serve their terms and present voters with an open primary pitch in November.

Additional ballot measures slated for a vote Thursday include a potential charter revision that would establish a reserves target equal to 12 percent of total tax revenues for the city’s rainy day fund, as well as an attempt to cut down outdoor dining application hurdles and delays.